Fish-lure.



J. M. NESS.

- FISH LURE.

APPILIOATION FILED AUG. 16,1913.

Patented June 30 1914;.

JOSEPH M. NESS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FISH-LURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 16, 1913. Serial No. 785,097.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH M.- Nnss, a

' citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the countyof Hennepin and State of- Minnesota, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Fish- Lures, of which the following is a specifi-1 desired, which is preferably conical in shape cation.

My invention relates to fish lures and has for its object to providemeans for the holding of live bait such as a frog or minnow in suchmanner that it will not suffer injury and may be used over an extendedperiod for catching numerous fish, in combination with means forinterchangeably holding hooks of the desired size, together with otherfeatures adding to the eii'ectiveness of my device as a lure. Iaccomplish these results primarily by providing a casing of therequisite length, which may be cylindrical or of other shape as desired,but has the central walls thereof transparent and sur-' rounding achamber adapted to receive and exhibit the live bait such as a minnow orfrog. Means are provided for interchangeably securing a hook or hooks tosome part of the casing, and inlets are provided to the casingpreferably adjacent the point where the mouth of the minnow will be andalso outlets at the rear of the casing whereby the minnow willbeprovided with a supply of fresh water and air. The minnow is at alltimes plainly visible and yet is protected from the attack of bitingfish and from concussion with the surface of the water as the lure iscast as well as from the drawing effect of being pulled through thewater by means of the transparent walled casing; The manner of formingthesaid transparent casing and securing it bodily to form said chamberin combination with the means for interchangeably securing the hooks tothe lure are important features of my invention.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear inconnection with the detailed description thereof and are particularlypointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, illustrating the application of my invention in oneform,Figure 1 is a side view of a lure embodying the principles of myinvention and having a plurality of hooks secured thereto, the live baitbeing indicated in dotted lines. 'Fig. 2

is a top plan view showing the removable rear cap withdrawn from thecasing proper. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

4 is a section on line 44='of Fig. 1. F g. 5 1s a section on line 5-5 ofFig. 2. Fig. 6 1s a view of the rod for holding the cap and ringtogether. Fig. 7 is a section through the rear cap.

As illustrated, provide a front cap 10 formed of mckeled steel or othermetal as and is provided with a stem 11 extending to the center of theconical head 10 upon which may be rotatably ,mounted a double spoon '12of any bright flashing material, it being I noted that the spoon 12 isno necessary part of my invention and may be employed or not as desired.As above pointed out, the

Patented June 3@, 1914.

front cap 10 may preferably be conical in form having a circular base 13in which is securedthe end of a cylinder 1 1 formed of any desiredtransparent material, preferably of tough and .substa'ntial celluloid.This cyl1nder will preferably be formed of a single piece having theedges thereof overlapped and being respectively bound by a reverselyturned strip 15 of any desired metal such as sheet zinc, lead, tin,etc., the turns of said metal overlapping the edges of the celluloid andbeing secured together by riv- I Y ets 16 which pass through the severalturns of the sheet metal and the overlapping thickness of the celluloid.The sheet metal serves the double purpose of effectively binding thecelluloid into a closed cylinder and of pro viding a keel weight whichhas the efi'ect of causing the apparatus to assume a relativelyhorizontal position with the part 15 down when the lure is in the water.

The rear end of the cylinder 14 is held w thin a ring 17 and the ring 17and cap piece 10 are secured together by means of one or more rods 18.Each of rods 18, as

shown in detail in Fig. 6, comprises a shank having the end threaded, asindicated at 19, the free end being formed with a right-angled bend 20.The cap 10 is provlded with lnwardly disposed lugs 21, said lugs havingbores extending through the same and through the wall of the cap 10,said bores being parallel with the axis of said cap. In assembling, thethreaded end 19 of the rods 18 is extended through the bores in lugs 21and the bends 20 are pushed through apertures 22 in the ring 17 A screwnut 23 is then threaded onto the end of rod 18 and by engagement with ashoulder 24 formed on the outside of cap.10 and surrounding theapertures through lugs 18 the ring 17 and cap' 10 are drawn firmly upothe transparent cylinder 14 and the entire structure is rigidly securedtogether. The rods 18 also serve as a means for interchangeably securinghooks to the Walls of the cylinder 14. It is quite essential that thehooks should be close to the point where the live bait is visible.Apertures 25 are provided through the walls of the cylinder 14,preferably on o posite sides thereof, and some of said apertures must beadjacent the point where the head of a minnow in the cylinder 14 willnormally come, as indicated in Fig. 1. These apertures will be in. linewith and adjacent the point where the rods 18 extend along the walls ofcylinder 14 and could preferably have the edges bound with metal eyelets26. Hooks 27 of any desired size or character ma be provided with rings28 which are inserted through the openings 25 and the rods 18 areextended through said rings thereby giving the hooks a free swingingconnection to the rods 18 along the side walls of the transparentcylinder 14. The ring 17 is interiorly threaded and is adapted toreceive a threaded portion 29 of a rear cap 30 by means of which saidrear cap is removably secured u on the ring 17 and closes the chamber incy inder 14 except for some small apertures 31 formed in the cap 30 forpermitting water which enters the chamber through apertures 25 tocirculate within the chamber and leave through apertures 31. If desiredthe rear cap 30 may have a stem 32 centrally swiveled thereto upon whichstem a flashing spoon 33 may be rotatably mounted and to which may alsobe secured, if desired, a hook for the float.

The operation of my device will be apparent. Hooks will be attached tothe rods 18 of such size and character as the nature of the fishingwhere the lure is used would require. 'VVith the rear cap 30 removed aminnow will be introduced within cylinder 14 with the head toward thefront cap 10. The rear cap 30 is then secured in position and the lureplaced in water, with which it immediately fills through the apertures25 and 31. The lure is secured by front stem 11 to any desired line andis cast in the usual way, its weight and shape facilitating long andaccurate casting. The minnow within the casing 14 is: protected from theconcussion when the lure strikes the water. Immediately after the lurestrikes the water it begins to sink and upon being drawn forwardly willassume a horizontal position with the keel weight 15 down. The minnowswims naturally in the chamber 14 receiving fresh water through theapertures 25 and being protected by the casing from the drag of the lurethrough the water. The fish to be caught may be first attracted by theflashing spoon or the bright metal of the caps 10 and 30 and seeing theminnow swimming naturally strikes for the head of the minnow and isalmost certain to be hooked by some of the hooks 27. The hook 34 servesto catch a fish striking from the rear.

I claim:

1. A fish lure comprising a casing having front and rear metal caps andintermediate transparent walls, one of said caps being provided with alongitudinal shouldered opening and the other of said caps having atransverse opening in the wall thereof, a rod within the casing forholding said caps and walls rigidly assembled having a threaded endextending through 'the longitudinal opening and a right-angled bendextending through the transverse opening, a screw nut on the threadedend of the rod and hooks removably secured to the casing by said rod.

2. A fish lure comprising a casing having front and rear metal caps andintermediate transparent walls, one of said caps being provided with alongitudinal shouldered opening and the other of said caps having atransverse opening in the wall thereof, a rod for holding said caps andwalls rigidly assembled having a threaded endextending through thelongitudinal opening and a right-angled bend extending through thetransverse opening, a screw nut on the threaded end of the rod, andhooks removably secured to said rod. e

3. A fish lure comprising a casing having front and rear metal caps andintermediate transparent walls, said walls being provided with openings,rods extending inside of the transparent walls across said openings andsecuring the caps and walls together, rings extending through saidopenings and around said rods, and hooks in the rings.

4. A fish lure comprising a casing having front and rear metal caps andintermediate transparent walls, said walls being provided with openings,rods extending inside of the transparent walls across saidopenings andsecuring the caps and walls together, rings extending through saidopenings and around said rods, and hooks in the rings, said rods beingremovably secured in position so that the same may be withdrawn and thehooks changed. I

' 5. A fish lure comprising a casing having a front cap, a rear ring,intermediate transparent walls and a rear cap removably secured to therear ring, said front cap being provided with longitudinal shoulderedopenings and the ring having transverse openings, rods within the casinghaving threaded portions extending through the longitudinal openings andright-angled turns extending through the openings in the ring, screwnuts on the rods outside of the front cap and hooks secured in positionalongside of said walls by said rods.

6. A fish lure c nprising a casing having overlapped, and a strip ofmetal bent over and secured to both edges and extending between theoverlapped portion, said strip of metal serving to hold the transparentsheet in cylindrical form and providing a keel 10 sinker for causing thecasing to assume definite position when in the water, means for holdingthe caps and cylindrical portion rigidly assembled, and hooks secured inposition alongside said cylindrical portion.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1a in presence of twowitnesses.

JOSEPH M. NESS. Witnesses:

H. A. BOWMAN, F. A. WHITELEY.

